Switch box



A. L. HARVEY.

SWITCH BOX. APPLICATION FILED NOV-16, 1918. 1,404,852.

9 2. v 2 f 9 I. a, m m M N 3 s E f IIIIII V W a H M 2 6 B I l I m m 4 t I I I h-I I I HI IH- I III I I I I I. I I I In I I m M W i L MIL WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY A. L. HARVEY.

SWITCH BOX. APPLICATION FILED NOV- 16, IQIB- Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESSES INVENTOR A/ber/ L. Haruey UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT L. HARVEY, OF BRADDOCK TOWNSHIP, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYL- VANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC 8c MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

SWITCH BOX.

Application filed November 16, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. HARVEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Braddock Township, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Switch Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to switches and particularly to safety first switches.

' The object of my invention is to provide a simple and economical device for ensuring that the switch blade shall be in its open and deenergized position, before the door of the cover box can be opened.

Numerous forms of safety first switches are in existence but these are usually of special and complicated form of both switch and cover, whereas it is the object of my invention to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive device of this character.

In practicing my invention, I mount a knife-blade switch in a cover box, having a hinged door. I provide also a lever extending to the outside of the cover box to open and close the switch, a bail in front of the door and pivotally mounted on the sides of the cover box, and a link connecting the lever and the bail so that it is necessary to move the lever to a position that will open the switch before the bail can be raised and the door of the cover box opened.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan view of the switch device embodying my invention, part of the drawing being a section along the line L-I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side view of the device embodying my invention, and Fig. 3 is a side view of a modified form of the device.

In Fig. 1, a box 1, preferably made of metal, is provided with a hinged door 2 that is arranged to open on a vertical axis. A knife-blade switch 3 is mounted in the box 1 and is of the ordinary commercial type, except that the handle has been replaced by a member 4 that is fastened to the cross bar by a bolt 5. A link 6, connects the member 4; to a bent lever 7 this lever being pivotally mounted on a supporting member 8 and in a bearing 9 in one side of the box 1. A. member 10 of L-shape is clamped rigidly to the lever 7 by means of bolts 11 and 12 and clamping plates 13 and 14. A bent link 15 having a lost-motion slot 16 near its upper Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

Serial No. 262,790.

end is pivotally connected to the member 10 of L-shape by means of a rivet 17. A bail 18 of substantially U-shape, partially encloses the cover 2, of box 1, and is pivotally mounted on opposite sides of the box on pivots 19. A rearward extension of the bail 18, at one side of the box, carries a bolt 20 that is located in the slot 16 of the link 15.

A stop member 21 is provided at one side of the box 1 to limit the downward movement of the forward part of the bail 18.

Assume the door 2 and the switch 3 to be closed and that it is desired to replace a fuse. The lever 7, the link 15 and the bail 18' will occupy, respectively, the positions shown by the full lines in Fig. 2. To open the switch, the exposed end of the lever 7 is turned counter-clockwise in its bearings 8 and 9. The link 15, being connected to the member 10 of Lshape that is clamped to the lever 7 is caused to move downwardly to the position shown by the broken and dotted lines in Fig. 2, the lower end of the link 15 having a turning movement around the axis of the bearing 9. The upper part of the link 15, while moving downwardly, will permit the bail 18 to remain stationary by reason of the lost-motion slot 16. The front part of the bail 18 may now be raised by the operator to the position shown by the broken and dotted lines, the rearward extension having a downward turning movement, and the bolt 20 moving from the upper end of the lost-motion slot 16 to the lower end thereof. When the forward part of the bail 18 has been raised to its highest position, as shown by the broken and dotted lines in Fig. 2, the link 15 will assume the position shown by the broken and dotted lines in Fig. 2. The door 2 may now be opened and given a turning movement of approximately 180, when the top of the door, at its hinged side, will come in contact with the under side of the bail 18 and hold it in its raised position. So long as the door is in its fully-open position, the bail 18 and the link 15 will be held in the positions shown by the broken and dotted lines in Fig. 2 and, therefore, will preclude moving the lever 7 upward so as to close the switch 3.

To close the switch 3, it is necessary first to close the door 2, then drop the bail 18 to its normal position, when the bolt 20 will be at the upper limit of its movement in the slot 16, and the lever 71naythen be so moved as to close the switch.

In- Fig. 8 the link 15 does not have a lost- 'motion slot, allother details being the same as in Figs. 1 and 2. The operation of the device is as described above except that the rearward extension of the bail 18 will be moved downwardly by means of the link 15 when the lever 7 is'moved downwardly; The forward part of the bail 18 is thus-moved automatically to its raised'position by the motion of lever- 7.

I do not wish to be restricted to thestructural details or arrangements 01 parts herein set forth, as various modifications thereof 7 may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, andl .desire that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims. g V j t I claimas my invention: a V

1. The combination with a switch, a re ceptacle therefor'having a hinged door, and

' V meansvfor actuating the switch, of a member of U-shapefor precluding the opening of the doorof saidreceptacle, and lost-motion means controlled by the switch -actuating means for'so moving the door-holding memher that the door may be opened only when the switch is in its open position.

2. The combination with a switch areceptacle therefor having a hinged door, and

means foractuating the switch, of a bail member for precluding the opening of the door of said receptacle, and lost-motion means controlled by the switch-actuating means to allow the bail member to be so moved that the door may be opened only after the switch is in its open position.

3. The combination with a switch, a receptacle therefor-having a hinged door, and means for actuating the switch, of a member of U-shape, pivotally mounted on said receptacle so as to preclude the opening of the door of said receptacle, and a link having a lost-motionslot and connected to said member of Ushape to be controlledjby the switch-actuatingmeans so as to allow said member of U-shape to be so moved that the V In testimony whereof, I have hereunto V subscribed my name this 28th day of Oct. 1918. p

' ALBERT L. HARVEY; 

